Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Circles jj and kk, centered at OO and PP respectively, do not intersect. The two tangent rays from OO to kk meet jj at AA and BB, respectively, and the two tangent rays from PP to jj meet kk at CC and DD, respectively. Prove that A,B,CA, B, C, and DD are the vertices of a rectangle.

Figure 1

Solution

Solution:

Without loss of generality, we may assume that A,B,CA, B, C, and DD have the relative positions shown. We label the points of tangency W,X,YW, X, Y, and ZZ. We also note that the entire construction is symmetric about the line of centers OPOP, which therefore perpendicularly bisects segments ABAB, CDCD, WXWX, and YZYZ at their respective midpoints K,L,MK, L, M, and NN. Let r1r_1 and r2r_2 be the respective radii of jj and kk. We will first prove that AK=CLAK = CL. Since OAKOYNOPY\triangle OAK \sim \triangle OYN \sim \triangle OPY, we have
AKOA=PYOP,so AK=OAPYOP=r1r2OP \frac{AK}{OA} = \frac{PY}{OP}, \quad \text{so } AK = \frac{OA \cdot PY}{OP} = \frac{r_1 r_2}{OP}
Symmetrically, CL=r1r2/OPCL = r_1 r_2 / OP so AK=CLAK = CL. Now quadrilateral AKLCAKLC has right angles at KK and LL and equal, parallel sides AK=CLAK = CL, so it is a rectangle. Symmetrically, BKLDBKLD is a rectangle so ABDCABDC is a rectangle.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.